This invention relates generally to exercise devices and more particularly to a hexagonally shaped jogging platform designed for indoor use.
In recent years, significant numbers of the population have taken up the exercise of running or jogging. The health benefits of the exercise are myriad. Certainly overall physical fitness is improved and, more specifically, the benefits of jogging include improved muscle tone, increased stamina, better circulatory and respiratory function, weight control, improved coordination and relief of tension. In most areas of the country, jogging has become a year round activity.
Unfortunately, in some areas of the country, severe weather makes it impossible to always enjoy the activity of jogging outdoors. As a result, an indoor jogging platform was soon developed so that the exercise could be continued on a daily basis, in the comfort of one's own home, in spite of adverse climatic conditions.
A typical indoor jogging platform includes a rectangular frame about 3 feet square in dimension, leg supported on a floor by short legs, on the order of six to eight inches in length. The device includes a platform bed of fabric or other material tightly stretched by a coil spring arrangement attached to the frame. Simply stated, it has all the appearances of a miniature, square trampoline. One such jogging device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,892,403, issued July 1, 1975 to Victor J. Green. A singular safety disadvantage of such a rectangular platform is that, should the user step upon an edge of the platform, it will become unbalanced and literally flip upwardly from the floor, causing potentially serious injury. In addition, such platforms have sharp corners that can also inflict serious injury on the user. The coil springs of typical jogging devices are usually unprotected by any covering or padding. Thus, a user could be hurt if he happens to land on that portion of the device between the fabric bed and the supporting frame. However, such a safety covering or padding is known in the trampoline art, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,767,009, issued Oct. 23, 1973 to Bruce E. Sidlinger.
More exotic developments in the art are evidenced by U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,641,601 issued Feb. 15, 1972 to William F. Sieg and 4,037,834 issued July 26, 1977 to Arthur Q Oaks. The Sieg patent discloses a jogging device including a two-tread platform made of resilient foam material; a handle or grip structure may be provided for the safety of the user. The Oaks patent discloses a platform suspended from a frame of large diameter ABS plastic pipe by a combined cantilever--coil spring array. However, large potentially dangerous gaps are left between the platform edges and the supporting, plastic pipe frame.
The instant invention overcomes the aforementioned prior art deficiencies by providing a hexagonal jogging platform that cannot be upset no matter where the user stands or steps upon it. Equally important is the fact that a hexagonal structure is far stronger than a rectangular one, thus imparting long life to the invention.